By Corinne Love / Opinions Editor
a moment in the spotlight (MTVPress.com)
By Corinne Love / Opinions Editor
America needs Charm School.
With recent pop culture and political events, it seems that our nation has lost its manners.
It goes beyond the simple person cutting someone off in the parking structure here at Riverside City College.
Indecent and ridiculous behavior continually crops up in the news and it’s annoying.
From Kanye West’s infamous drunken hijacking of Taylor Swift’s video music award, to reports of Serena Williams getting ill-mannered towards an opponent, people have taken the term meltdown to new heights.
No one embodies this recent “meltdown” quite like South Carolina House of Representatives Joe Wilson.
Wilson, basically exhibited the worse of face-to-palm antics.
In an act that resembled more of a scene from South Park than actual decency, Wilson interrupted President Obama during the President’s address for health care reform.
Health care reform in this country, of course, is a big-panic button topic.
Wilson’s interruption, even if it had merit, was downright rude.
It’s supposed to be common knowledge that when someone else is speaking one should let them finish.
This seems like knowledge that would be pivotal in an arena like the house of representatives where communication is vital.
Not only did Wilson throw in his two cents when it was not asked of him, he called the President a liar. Two offenses that garnered a media hailstorm of attention, which is probably what Wilson wanted anyway.
He later “apologized” for his adolescent outburst, but the apology seemed insincere.
Once the media got hold of Wilson’s outburst, it seemed the entire world was watching America to see what would happen next.
And what did happen next?
A string of public meltdowns from just every corner possible.
It seems like the country had lost it’s manners along with it’s sense of appropiateness.
To get a better idea of this, all one has to do is watch a Fox or CNN newsmedia program and see the sparks fly.
“Newsmedia,” it’s not news, but instead entertainment with perhaps an ounce of actual journalism.
Political pundits like Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh and a host of others generally get to raising their voices and interrupting their guests mid sentence.
If guests want to get their words in, it becomes a competition of how high they are willing to talk over the commentator.
What the viewers see instead of thoughtful conversation, is a muddled mess of varying opinions.
These shows have a common trend among television shows, it doesn’t matter what has to be said, it matters how to get the point across.
This lack of common etiquette pervades many aspects of American culture and every socioeconomic level.
Not one group can be primarily blamed for it either, because it’s becoming a national issue.
Constantly interrupting a speaker so one can forcibly get their point across, obviously misses the mark of communication.
It indicates that the listener is not listening.
Of course, the person on the speaker hears the messages being spoken but it fails to penetrate and make a lasting impression.
Simply, there is no excuse for this behavior.
Conversely, rude behavior seems to be rewarded.
While on the other hand, simple thoughtful behavior is an afterthought.
The problem here is, and it is a problem, is not that America has simply lost it’s manners as CNN recently questioned, it’s that Americans have become so self-absorbed that it’s to the point of oblivion.
The common phrases of grace, like “thank you,” “excuse me,” and “you’re welcome” are all becoming increasingly rare in everyday conversation.
Not everyone though, is on the high road to rudeness.
The diva herself, Beyonce showed immense class at the 2009 Video Music Awards.
Although West may have ruined the awards, Beyonce brought back courtesy, which only reinforces the idea that it pays to be polite.
